To Have Greatness Thrust Upon Them
by EminentlyPractical
Summary: The Second Wizarding War ended with the battle at Hogwarts when Voldemort, who lost most of his followers, is forced to lie low. Is it possible a desperate mother can be the cause of a third war? AU. Gradual Narcissa/Rodolphus. Warning: Character Death.


**A/N: I think I'll get my old buddy pal Severus to read this disclaimer for me, Severus, if you will.  
**_**Of course, if you possibly think this Miss Eminently here owns Harry Potter or any of us, the characters within, then you have fewer brains than Longbottom. Don't waste my time.**_

Death loomed everywhere, strengthening its hold on its victims with each spell cast in the now claustrophobic hall. It was impossible to tell who cast the spell to end the person's life, whether it came from a friend or enemy. No one however fought harder to keep Death away than Lord Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange. Both of them fought numbers larger than their own and yet managed to maintain their ground. Unlike her master, Bellatrix's ear-splitting taunts echoed throughout the room, sending shivers down spines. Constant streams of red and green light flowed from her Dragon Heartstring wand, sending a Killing Curse in one direction and brief Cruciatus Curses in the other.

Both the witch and her attackers bore heavy injuries though acknowledging the pain meant a death sentence. No one could afford to lose concentration at a time like this. A red flow gushing down Bellatrix's left arm from a deep-looking gash on the inside of her arm was completely ignored by the deranged witch. Her Dark Mark, once worn with pride submerged under blood, her black robes in a crumpled heap on the ground from when she had thrown it off her as she ran, sticky with blood. To her left, the Elder Wand slashed through the air duelling five at once. Every chance she got, Bellatrix sent a brief curse in the direction of Harry Potter whose attention was focused wholly on Lord Voldemort.

Much to her dismay no curse cast by the infamous Elder Wand seemed to have any effect on neither Harry Potter, nor anyone else in the Great Hall. This realization caused her heart to drop slightly, if the Elder Wand was proving useless to his attackers, then the chances of survival were significantly less. It was her job to make sure Lord Voldemort survived this war, otherwise she had failed, she was no better than Lucius who had been killed earlier in the battle. Yaxley had caught Lucius trying to bargain with McGonagall, his cooperation in this clash for both the safety of himself and his family.

Casting one last quick curse at Harry Potter, Bellatrix directed her attention back to her own attackers - Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger – fatigue showing on their battle-torn faces. The battle had been engaged for hours, both sides suffering significant decreases in size until most of those left were duelling in the Great Hall. Lord Voldemort himself faced Kingsley, Horace Slughorn, Harry Potter, Kreacher the House elf and Minerva McGonagall, each one of them exceptionally skilled witches and wizards. Except perhaps Kreacher who still held Regulus' locket in his left hand.

"Neville Longbottom!" Bellatrix shrieked, her cruel voice echoing once more throughout the Hall, saying his name as if an old friend. "Thinking of making Mummy and Daddy proud are we? Too bad they'll never find out!" The moment the words left her thin lips she went to take a step back, to continue the deadly dance carried out between the five of them, when a rather large snake slid from behind her, nearly causing the witch to topple over. When Bellatrix regained her balance she glanced over at the snake – who the four young witches and wizards were now watching curiously – which slid across the ground sideways until smashing into the wall of the Hall. Never had Bellatrix fully trusted Nagini, secretly jealous of the language which both Nagini and Lord Voldemort spoke, one that was completely foreign to Bellatrix.

Taking advantage of Ginny's short lack of concentration Bellatrix turned back to the young girl, casting the deadly spell that would end her life. The green blaze wasn't missed by anyone, even Voldemort turned just in time to see Ginny fall to the ground limp. Under the manic sound of Bellatrix's glee the sound of Harry's disbelief was barely audible as he temporarily forgot about Voldemort's existence and rushed to the dead girl's side. Lord Voldemort, who was now being watched rather closely by Bellatrix, raised the Elder Wand directly at Harry, his cold voice managing to enchant the Hall in a way Bellatrix's couldn't.

"_Avada Kedav-"_

"Harry!"

With Hermione's unnecessary warning Harry spun around, only just lifting his own wand in time.

"Expelliarmus!"

The two spells clashed in the air, enough to cause everyone to turn and watch the two enemies duel. Apart from the two duellers Bellatrix was the only one who moved, coming towards her Master until she stood just behind him watching from over his shoulder. After a few seconds of watching helplessly she raised her own wand in attempt to help Voldemort.

"Ava-" the words barely left her lips when Hermione raised her own wand. The sound of Bellatrix's voice caught Voldemort's attention although his intense stare never left Harry.

"No Bella, _he is mine._"

At his voice Bellatrix stopped speaking but didn't lower her wand, instead shifted its aim to the roof.  
_Forgive me, this is our only hope._

Chaos followed as the enchanted roof went up in a blaze. Bellatrix stood rooted to the spot for a microsecond, hypnotized by the flames. Ron, who had been standing beside the unresponsive body of his sister, raised his wand directly to Voldemort.

"You cowardly Blood Traitor. How _dare _you?" Bellatrix screamed as she ran towards Ron her Dragon Heartstring wand slicing the air in front of her, her movements becoming more vigorous the closer she got to him. This time her lips didn't move when Ron dropped to the ground beside his sister, looking just as lifeless as Ginny.

Hermione ran to Ron and Ginny, placing her hand on Ron's chest. "It's okay Harry, he's just knocked out! Just finish off Voldemort."

The moment Harry turned back to Voldemort he was thrown back through the air, the ceiling collapsing above them, the fire spreading significantly in the few moments it had been since it light by Bellatrix. Everywhere she looked the colossal Hall was collapsing around them, barricading them into the Hall. As she spun around in search for Voldemort a figure came up from behind her, sliding the wand out of her rather slack grip and tossed it into the fire. Realising the sudden loss of wood in her grip Bellatrix spun around just in time to watch her wand burn in the unstoppable fire she had created. Before Bellatrix could say anything Kreacher clicked his rather small fingers and disappeared, leaving the hall entirely.

"My Lord!" Bellatrix screamed, a note of panic in her voice as she ran, her hair singeing in the flames as she tried to find Voldemort. "My Lord, please!"

On the other side of the Hall Ron and Ginny lied motionless on the burning floor, oblivious to what was going on around them. Harry, who had just spotted the pair darted through the flames which constantly threatened to take his life kept his wand held high, ready to use if need be. The moment he reached Ginny and Ron he reached out to grab hold of their shirt, looking around for Hermione.

"Hermione!" he screamed over the roar of the flames which licked at the back of his shirt, starting another smaller fire.

"I'm fine, take Ron and Ginny and get out of here."

As she yelled to the person she could no longer see, Hermione walked across right in front of a wandless Bellatrix. The deranged witch silently bent to pick up a flaming piece of wood which had fallen from the ceiling and struck the teenage witch across the head. Hermione fell to the ground, unconscious.

The moment Hermione fell, Bellatrix dropped to her knees suddenly very aware of the flames engulfing her as an undoubtedly insane laugh left her lips, only there was no one left to hear it. Lord Voldemort had long gone, fleeing the scene once realizing what Bellatrix had done. The only one besides herself in the Hall was the unconscious body of Hermione who, like Bellatrix would surely die in the fire. One small part of her had hoped that Voldemort would save her, despite the fact she had started the fire so he could get _away_.

The unmistakably insane witch threw her head back, her dress catching alight as she let out another chorus of deafening laughs, fourteen years of Azkaban showing in her hollow features far from afraid of her certain death.

"You're dead, Potter." She called out to the boy who was most probably halfway across the country by now. "You will lose! You cannot win against the Dark Lo-" Bellatrix's taunts were cut off by her sudden scream, this time not from enjoyment but pain, the flames swallowing her whole.

Finally Bellatrix fell to the ground awkwardly, her knees bent rather impossibly underneath her and the witch moved no more, buried amongst the debris of what had been the castle.

**A/N: Yes this will, essentially be classified as a Narcissa/Rodolphus fic in some ways by I needed to start off with the battle and Bellatrix's death. The rest of the chapters will be focusing primarily on Narcissa. This chapter was relatively short, the rest will be longer and will be up as soon as they are written.**


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